Zilisch Denies Love In Battle Of Best Friends At Pocono

Connor Zilisch celebrates with a burnout after winning Saturday at Pocono Raceway. (Wyatt Tinsley/Race Face Digital photo)

LONG POND, Pa. – It was only a matter of time before a late-race NASCAR Xfinity Series battle for the win came down to longtime friends Connor Zilisch and Jesse Love.

What was an eventual inevitability finally happened Saturday at Pocono Raceway, with the teenage pair fighting tooth-and-nail in the closing laps following a late-race restart at the 2.5-mile, three-turn oval.

In the end, Zilisch wasn’t tricked by Love or the ‘Tricky Triangle’ as he ultimately won the Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 for his long-awaited first oval win in the Xfinity Series.

Zilisch rolled off ninth for the 100-lap affair, but methodically worked his way up to the lead on a strategy call by interim crew chief Dale Earnhardt Jr., leading for the first time on lap 42.

Ultimately, he paced 34 laps in total, including the pass for the win he made with five to go over Love after Justin Allgaier and Chase Elliott washed up the racetrack and out of contention with 13 to go in turn one.

Saturday was Zilisch’s third career Xfinity Series win and his second victory this season, the first coming in March at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

The race was plagued by 10 cautions throughout, until a six-lap dash to the finish set Zilisch up with a prime opportunity to overhaul Love for the win.

After he got by Love, Zilisch stretched his lead out to four tenths of a second over Love, not the most comfortable win but still enough for the 18-year-old from Mooresville, N.C.

Zilisch’s relief over finally winning his first oval race in NASCAR was evident after he climbed from his car.

“I've been dying for this one for a while now. I know it hasn’t felt like that long, but man, I’ve been so close on the ovals lately and wanted a win so badly,” said Zilisch. “I finished second at Charlotte, second at Nashville … we’ve been close before today. And Dale Jr., not too bad on the box either. Pretty cool to have him up there.

“Thank you so much to the entire JR Motorsports team, the Hendrick engine shop for giving us such good power the last few weeks … I’m just very grateful for everybody. … It’s an honor to be here. This one’s definitely special. I’ve been chasing the oval win for a while now.”

The race was turned on its head when on a lap-88 restart, then-leaders Elliott and Allgaier made contact into turn one, both shooting out of the groove and giving Love a clear path to the lead, and what could have been the victory.

Yet another caution, this time for a spinning Kyle Sieg in turn two, set up another restart though. Zilisch used that final launch to get a run, make the pass on Love, and ultimately pick up the victory.

After a day where he filled in admirably for suspended leader Mardy Lindley, Earnhardt was able to celebrate alongside Zilisch as just the ninth driver in history to win as a driver, car owner, and crew chief in one of NASCAR’s three national series.

“When we have an issue like this with somebody being suspended … Mardy and everybody, they know what to do, and they did a great job putting us in a position to succeed today,” Earnhardt reflected. “We had a lot of things go our way, a lot of good luck, some great strategy … and even had a little help from (former Earnhardt Jr. crew chief Steve) Letarte up here … he was a big help.

“Everybody on this team has just been amazing all weekend long. And what a great race car driver we have. Connor Zilisch is going to be a big deal in this sport for a long time. This opportunity was a lot of fun for me today. I’ve missed the thrill of competition. I love broadcasting, don’t get me wrong, but nothing compares to driving or just being part of the team and contributing.

“Being an owner doesn’t really deliver like this. This was a ton of fun.”

Jesse Love (2) leads Connor Zilisch (88) late Saturday at Pocono Raceway. (Peter Casey/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

Love, on the other hand, had very mixed emotions about finishing runner-up to his best friend.

“That’s the most focused I’ve ever been inside a race car. I did not want Connor to beat me because I know I’ll have to hear about it for a long time,” Love said through a smile. “Hats off to him. He ran a good race. Once I was able to get a draft, I was able to get back to him. But that bums me out, I’m not going to lie.

“I’m still trying to be grateful we have fast race cars and are in position to win. But Connor got one over on us this time.”

Christian Eckes picked up his best finish of the season in third, while Elliott finished fourth despite having one of, if not the, fastest car all day. An impressive run from Ryan Sieg rounded out the top five, and Carson Kvapil capped off a good run in sixth after starting back in 22nd.

Sam Mayer finished seventh, with Sammy Smith, Taylor Gray, and Justin Allgaier rounding out the top 10. All four JR Motorsports Chevrolets finished in the top 10 Saturday.

Notably, Nick Sanchez was putting together a great run until he spun out off of turn one on a lap-84 restart, setting up the Elliott-Allgaier clash that changed the eventual outcome.

Saturday’s race set the record for the most cautions in an Xfinity Series race at Pocono, with 10 total yellows throughout the afternoon.

Next week the Xfinity Series heads to EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) for its second visit of the year. The first time out, superspeedway dominator Austin Hill took the victory.

Broadcast coverage of the Focused Health 250 is slated for Friday night, June 27 at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.